Did you know that several families in our community, state and across America, including mine, are facing the loss of our pensions in the very near future? A recent estimate is that 1 million plus pensioners that have “Multi Employer Pension Plans” are trying to survive this crisis.

These pensions, for which we worked longer hours, increased productivity and gave up wages, should have been considered sacred and above all, guaranteed. Reflect for a moment about the stress on a family facing the real possibility of losing most of its income at an age where work is no longer an option.

Despite all the attacks on today’s media, they’ve been very helpful in trying to educate readers by illustrating the problem. There have been informative articles in USA Today, AARP’s monthly bulletin, The Washington Post, as well as several local and regional newspapers. These articles point out that it isn’t only the “defined benefits pensions” that are in trouble across the nation. The PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.) that insures pensions is also facing insolvency. (Do you know the status of your pension plan?)

The media provided the information to the public but the only real solution is in the hands of the Senate. The House of Representatives has supported and passed a bill on to that branch, who has yet to act. That bill from the House was introduced in the Senate in July of 2019 (SB-2254). Another piece of legislation, called a “white paper,” which is a general outline for discussion and debate on the subject, was introduced by Senators Alexander and Grassley, in November of 2019. Since then no progress.

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